So Trashy (Bad Boy Next Door Book 2) (6 page)

I take a step to follow her, but the hold on my arms
tightens behind me.

“Oh, no you don’t.” The guy who has hold of me pushes me to
the stairs leading off the stage.

At the bottom of the steps, the bouncer lets go of my arms.
Probably because Lonnie-fucking-Fisher stands there with a sawed-off shotgun
pointed at my crotch.

“Wow, it’s almost like a god damned class reunion. All these
blasts from the past.”

I spit in his face. “Fuck you, Fisher.”

He wipes his chin with the back of his arm and grins as he
slams the butt of the gun into my gut. A sharp pain explodes all the way into
my balls.

I snatch the weapon from him and flip it, popping him above
the eye with the stock.

He staggers backward as his hands fly up to cover the cut
seeping blood over his eyebrow. “What’d you do that for?”

“Shits and giggles and old time’s sake.”

Thugs One and Two flank me. Lonnie eyes the shotgun. My crew
gathers around, trying to herd me to the door.

Trudi’s hand tugs on my arm. “C’mon. Let’s head on out
before this makes the fucking news.”

I scan the room. She’s nowhere in sight.

I call, “Lou, where are you?”

Shuffling of feet and girls’ whispers are the only noise as
I wait.

No answer.

I left her here to go to college, and she ends up on a
stage, fucking taking her clothes off. I couldn’t have failed her more
miserably.

I bellow. “Lou!”

“Leave me the fuck alone, Buck.”

She comes around a mirrored column, barefoot, her top in
place, her bra hanging off her fingers. She favors her right foot, though she’s
obviously trying to hide her pain. Her skyscraper shoes are missing; in their
place is a purse.

Trudi tugs at my arm again. “Isn’t that your grandparents’ neighbor?
Why do you give a shit if she dances?”

My eyes don’t leave Lou as she passes us on her way to the
door. “Because, she’s my—”

Lou looks back, throwing a glare so hard it pricks my chest.
“I’m
no one
.”

I hold my chin up as I head to the door. All eyes follow me
as I try to ignore the sharp stab of pain shooting through my ankle with every
step. It’s fine though; I’ve dealt with worse and pressed on.

So much for all that money for Aunt Delores. Damn it.

“Hey!” Lonnie’s voice halts me.

I turn, avoiding looking at Buck or his gang. I raise an
eyebrow to Lonnie, letting him know I’m listening.

“You come on back when that feels better.” He looks to Buck,
though he’s still speaking to me. “I might give you that job. Of course, to
make sure you can deliver a performance worthy of this fine establishment, I’ll
need you to give me a lap dance in the private room.”

Without hesitating—not even a heartbeat—Buck jerks, and the
butt of the gun sinks into Lonnie’s potbelly, air rushing out of his repulsive
mouth with a grunt. He grabs his stomach, doubling over, but his eyes find mine
as he grins anyway.

Just like in high school, disgust slinks over my skin. I
turn away and drag my gimpy ass outside.

I throw the car into drive as Sadie and Buck spill out of
the doors. I fishtail out of the parking lot, humiliation following like a
demon from hell. Might as well serve me up on a platter for the entire world to
laugh at once again.

Why the hell did I do this to myself? Frustration wells up,
and I bang on the steering wheel with the flat of my hand as I hit the gas.

I adjust the ice pack on my ankle, propping it on the chair
across from me. I swipe at the mosquito buzzing in my ear as I lean back in the
broke-ass lawn chair that Uncle Manny probably meant to fix but never did.

The leaves quiver in the gentle wind, the light long ago
faded behind them. I turn on the lamp at my side as crickets and frogs crank up
the volume.

I heave a sigh. I lied to Aunt Delores yesterday evening, something
I haven’t done since the day we met. But it’s for the best. She’d be
disappointed and lecture me about how she can take care of her own business.

I don’t want her to have to do this shit alone. She needs
help, and no one in her family is doing anything. So, I will.

Lacing my fingers behind my head, I settle deeper into the
chair. The stars try to be seen through the canopy of trees overhead. But, like
me, they just don’t shine bright enough to really get anyone’s attention here
in the backwoods. They have to go somewhere else to be noticed and appreciated.

I sit up straight when there’s a creak on the steps leading
up to the back deck. It’s only one in the morning on Saturday, so it can’t be
Sadie. She’s not off work yet. Aunt Delores is already upstairs. I stand, still
not putting my full weight on my left foot.

When Buck’s head clears the bottom step, I drop back into my
seat. “Do you always lurk around your neighbors’ houses at night?”

He comes into my circle of light, a slight grin showing in
his dimples. “Only yours.”

I expel a heavy breath. “What do you want? I had enough of
you yesterday.”

He shakes his head. “I couldn’t help myself. Seeing you on
that stage, it—surprised me. It was pure reaction. What the hell were you
doing? You’ve never been the kind of girl who’d take her clothes off for a
living.”

“You have no idea what kind of girl I am now, Buck. It’s
been five fucking years. A lot can happen to change a person in that length of
time. And it’s none of your damned business what I do. You gave up that right,
remember?”

He runs a hand over his face and through his hair. It’s something
I’ve seen him do a thousand times when he doesn’t know what to say.

Good. There’s nothing he
can
say.

He sits in the chair that I had my foot on. The tail of his
shirt hangs out, the buttons undone. His muscular chest and abs are cast in odd
shadows from the yellow glow of my lamp.

I avert my gaze. There’s no sense in letting my body betray
me again. It’s as though it has a separate memory than I have of what happened
between Buck and me. My body only recalls the touch, the heat, the adrenaline
rush. It’s my heart that remembers the hurt—the rending of my soul from its
moorings.

But man, oh man, the pleasure he brought. His touch took me
to a different place and wiped away all the bad in my life. And that last time,
which was really the first time…the only time…

Buck closed the door and locked it. “Just in case.”

I threw myself into his arms before he could even get to
the bed. Excitement thrummed through me, right alongside the dread lurking
behind my spine, waiting for its chance to make a move and steal my moment of
happiness.

I shoved my hands under his shirt as he smiled down on
me. I tried to memorize every contour, every dip and rise of the defined
muscles of his back that played beneath my fingers.

He slid his hands up along either side of my jaw, pushing
them into the hair at my temples, pulling me in as his mouth found mine. I’d
only ever kissed Buck, but I knew he had to be something special. The way his
tongue moved with mine, building pressure in all the secret places hidden from
the world, places I only wanted to share with him.

Heat ripped through me as he walked me backward, not
breaking our kiss. The backs of my calves hit the side of his bed, and I
lowered myself to sit. He let go and stood back, staring at me.

I reached for the hem of my top, but the shake of his
head halted me.

“Wait.” His dimples disappeared as he bit the corner of
his bottom lip.

I paused, holding my breath. Every hope of changing his
mind balanced on the tightrope stretched between me and him.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this, Lou.”

I dropped my chin, looking up at him through my lashes.
“You promised. You’ve been promising me for over a year, Buck.”

He scratched his forehead and ran his fingers through his
blacker than black hair, leaving it disheveled and sexy as hell. “I know, but…maybe
it’s not the best idea.”

“When has a bad idea ever stopped
you
?” I hooked
my foot around his knee and pulled him closer.

His frown faded and his sly grin returned. He always
smiled like that when he was about to do something that would get him, or both
of us, into hot water.

“True dat.” He shed his shirt and reached for mine,
pulling it over my head.

He laid me down, his bed springs squeaking.

As he rolled to his side, he took me with him. My bare
breasts pressed against his chest, and his strong arms held me close. His hot
mouth played havoc on my senses as he nipped and sucked at the sensitive spot
where my pulse beat like mad at the side of my neck. His big hand slid under my
skirt and cupped my ass cheek as he moved his attention to my lips.

His tongue teased as it darted in and out, sliding
against my own. The throb in my panties insisted on more as he hooked his thumb
into the elastic riding low on my hips.

He pulled back, catching my jaw in one hand and looking
into my eyes. “Lou, I want you so bad right now, but I don’t want you to have
regrets.”

I pushed my fingers through the soft hair at his nape.
Pulling him to me, I wrapped my legs around him.

Grinding against the erection still hidden behind his
jeans, I kissed his jaw. “How could I ever regret loving you?”

A small throb beats at the apex of my thighs. Just one memory
and he’s got my pussy humming, longing for one more moment with him—his hands,
his mouth, his cock.

Damn him.

He leans forward, elbows on his knees, his gaze finding mine,
holding it until I look away.

“What’s happening in your life that took you to that dive?”

I expel a huff. “Well, it certainly isn’t what I
planned
to do with my summer, if that’s what you’re asking. I didn’t even want to come
back to this hell hole of a town. I would rather another deployment to fucking
Bahrain. But, Aunt Delores needs me, so I’m here.”

“Bahrain? Wow. You really got to go places. Good. That’s
what I wanted for you. What
you
wanted for you.”

All I ever wanted was
him
. But I can’t tell him that.
“Well, I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, but the military was the next best
choice. I’m glad I did it.”

“Really? Because when I first heard you’d gone off and
joined the Marines, I wondered what happened to you that you chose that road.
It had to be hard.”

“What happened to me?
Seriously
? My life was fucked
from the start. And then—then
you
happened. After you left, I pretty
much wanted to be anybody but me. So I got the fuck out of Dodge too.”

His shoulders drop. “I’m sorry, Lou. I—I didn’t mean for any
of this to happen. It’s the opposite of what I hoped for your life. But maybe,
maybe we can try—”

I have to stop him.

I stand, careful to keep the majority of my weight on my
right foot. “Just go home, Buck. I don’t know what you want, but it’s doubtful
you’ll find it here.”

He stands, towering over me, his hand landing on my hip. “Maybe
I’ve already found it.”

His eyes search mine as he runs the back of his fingers down
my cheek, stepping closer. My pulse rate doubles at his touch.

Fuck. I pull in a deep breath, taking in his scent—clean and
crisp, as though he just showered, combined with a tinge of something woodsy. I
swallow, fighting the desire to fall forward and savor any morsel of affection
I can get from him.

Pathetic.

I gently wrap my fingers over his wrist, removing his hand
from my face. He lets it fall to my other side.

He slides his arms around me, pulling me closer. “I’ve
missed you, Lou.”

I cough to clear the lump forming in the back of my throat.
“Yeah? Well, that’s only about four and a half years too late.”

“It’s never too late.” He leans in, his stubble grazing my
jaw, sending a zing of electrical charge through me. “All I can think about
since I saw you the other day is having you again.”

My libido roars to life, and moisture surges to my pussy
with the smallest suggestion of being with Buck again. It’s fucking sick how
much my body misses what he did to it.

I shake my head. “I told you, you aren’t getting
a thing
from me.”

He pulls me tighter against him, whispering in my ear.
“Maybe
I
want to give
you
something.”

“I’m not sure I want anything from you.” Except that tongue
lapping at my pussy.
That
I want.